German tank crew sets are a relative a dime a dozen when compared to what is on offer for allied tank crews. So usually it’s pretty much just a case of picking one at random as it’s hard to find something to do with a tank crew that makes them stand out. In this set Masterbox have tackled that problem by dressing one of the crew in a non-military sheepskin jacket.
The four figures contained in this kit come on two dark yellow sprues contained within the usual Masterbox open ended box, with the usual very attractive artwork. The detail is very good with very nice folds in the clothes, nicely done individual faces, and detail like the belt buckles as well a Panzer Assault Badge very nicely moulded in place. While the detail is good there is a small amount of cleanup required, with some mould seams to remove and a little light flashing on a few of the hands.
All four figures are posed in a “standing around confering” style of pose, three wear the traditional panzer uniforms while the fourth wears a sheepskin jacket. The kneeling figure comes with two optional left arms so that he can either be pointing down, or holding his left arm up and out in a general sort of gesturing out to his left style of pose. Two of the figures come with moulded on overseas caps with the other two getting a soft officer’s cap and a filed cap.
No weapons or personal equipment is included, which is a little odd as one figure is shown on the assembly instructions as wearing a pair of binoculars suspended around his neck and comes with the straps moulded onto his body. But with no binoculars to add to those straps. So you’ll need to add those yourself plus a few holstered pistols.
This is a very simple set and it would have been improved with the addition of sidearms and the binoculars. Other than that it falls into the category of a good generic set of German tank crew with the novelty of one figure wearing the sheepskin jacket to help distinquish it among the masses. When it comes to painting the figures up this little bit of variety in the colours does actually help make the figures to stand out a little so they’re well worth it for that little individuality.
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